The Four Founders
by MrsSiriusBlack4eva
Summary: Follow Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin as they experience love, heartbreak, betrayal, and most importantly how they came to form the most famous wizarding school in England.
1. Rowena Ravenclaw

Rowena Ravenclaw was sitting in her grand bedroom late at night after everyone had fallen asleep. She was wearing a long sleeping gown that was cream colored and was slightly snug against her fit figure. The bed that she was lying on was a magnificently large bed with midnight blue drapes around it. Resentment towards her parents was flowing through her veins like a fast paced river. On the eve of her seventeenth birthday, her parents, the king and queen of France, had just informed her that she was to be married to some random guy that she didn't even know.

She stood up from her comfortable bed, walked over to her oak vanity stand, and started brushing her beautiful brown wavy locks of hair. Although her parents said that she should be excited, for she was marrying the prince of Norway, who was the son of one of the richest families in the world, she was quite sad indeed. Her chocolate colored eyes drifted over to her desk and she saw a piece of parchment and quill resting on top of it. Rowena put down her brush and crossed the room to sit down at her desk. The slender hand picked up the large feather quill, grabbed a tiny bottle of ink, and she began to write a letter to the man she cared more about than anyone else.

_Dear Salazar,_

_My heart beats for the moment my eyes rest on you again, for the moment you touch my hand, for the moment when I'll be able to kiss your soft lips once more. It is the eve of my seventeenth birthday and I cannot wait until I am able to see you once more._

_Right now everyone in the castle is asleep so that I could write this to you in secrecy. Mother and Father have just told me that I am to be married to the prince of Norway, and that they would start making preparations for the wedding quite soon. They both want this wedding to happen in a year._

_But I am terribly upset over this news. You are the one, the only one that I love. I love you so much Salazar, but I am puzzled on how we can make our relationship work now. I am not giving up on our hopes and dreams of being together._

_Love forever,_

_Rowena_

She had decided to write this letter at night because of some family issues. Salazar had been her boyfriend ever since he and his wealthy family came to stay at the castle two years ago. The only reason that her father had allowed the Slytherins to stay in his home was because of a raging war that had ended just a couple of months ago. Rowena and Salazar had taken an immediate interest in each other, but their families strictly forbade them to see each other. Her father had a grudge against Salazar's father because Salazar's father had supposedly killed her grandfather. The two families had been feuding ever since.

Rowena folded the letter into thirds before addressing it. Her magnificent white owl, Winter, was sleeping on the windowsill in her bedroom. She lightly stroked his head, and his eyelids opened to reveal startling black eyes, and he gave a tired hoot.

"I need you to deliver this to Salazar," Rowena whispered to Winter, holding up the letter. Winter grabbed the parchment letter with her beak and flew off into the starry night. With a sigh, Rowena went back to her bed and with a sigh she switched off her lamp with her wand and drifted off to sleep.

"Miss Ravenclaw," a small girl's voice whispered the next morning. "Your Mother and Father say that it is time for you to get up,"

Rowena inwardly groaned and opened her eyes to see one of the servants named Victoria. Victoria was a little girl of ten years with wavy red hair and charming brown eyes. She had been found on the doorstep of the castle on a rainy night ten years ago when Victoria had been just a little baby.

"Thank you Victoria," said Rowena with a nod. "Please tell them that I will be downstairs quite soon."

Victoria gave her a quick smile and a nod before shutting the door, leaving Rowena alone in her room. She pushed herself into a sitting position before standing up, pulling her cream-colored floor-length robe tighter around her body. Her slender hand picked up her wand and with a mere flick of it the light green curtains on all of her windows closed, stopping the vast majority of the bright sunlight from shining into her room.

Rowena crossed her room to her closet to choose a dress for the day. Her closet was quite large and held different colored dresses for every occasion. For today she chose a frilly pale blue and white dress with some pale blue flats. Once her dress and shoes were on, she moved to her vanity, pulled out her brush, and brushed her brown hair while looking in the mirror. She decided that instead of her hair being wavy that she would straighten it and put it into a bun. With a flick of her wand, the wavy hair straightened out and formed a bun. Completely satisfied with how she looked, Rowena exited her room.

"Ah, good morning, Rowena," her mother greeted. One of the servant boys hurried forward and pulled out a chair for Rowena to sit in at the dining table. She sat down and scooted in slightly. "Did you sleep well?" her mother continued.

"Yes, I slept quite well, Mother," Rowena answered.

The same servant boy who had pulled out her chair came forward with a pitcher of water and poured her a glass full of it. He then came back a minute later carrying three plates of pancakes. There were only two on each plate along with a tiny square of butter. The boy set a plate down in front of Rowena, then her mother, and then her father.

"Why are we eating pancakes this morning?" Rowena asked her parents.

"Well, because it is your birthday today, honey," her mother answered with a slight chuckle.

Rowena became a little flustered and a tiny tint of pink rose onto her cheeks; she had completely forgotten about her birthday.

"That's okay, Rowena," her mother assured her, quickly grasping her hand. "With so much going on lately I'm not at all surprised that you forgot."

"That reminds me," her father suddenly said. "Rowena, I have excellent news. In the following week the king and queen of Norway are coming to visit us and they are bringing their son, Henry. I have invited them to stay for the entire week so that our families may begin to get to know each other. It will be an excellent time for you and Henry to become acquaintances."

Rowena felt her heart sink and any joy she had with it being her birthday suddenly vanished. She didn't want to meet this Henry guy; she only wanted to be with Salazar. Her parents obviously did not know this, so she put up a happy face and claimed to be excited about the meeting. One thought was on her mind the entire time: I need to leave this country with Salazar before the royal family of Norway arrived.


	2. Salazar Slytherin

Salazar Slytherin was sitting in his family's parlor sipping some red wine. He was gazing out the window, watching the rain drops fall from the dark and gloomy sky, thinking of her, of Rowena. It had been so long since he'd seen her or even talked to her. There was a clap of thunder that broke his train of thought, for their mansion shook just a bit. At that moment he made up his mind; he would write to his love.

He stood up, set his glass of wine down onto the end table next to his jade green armchair, and walked over to the desk that sat opposite him. Just as he grabbed a piece of parchment and a feather quill, there was a _tap tap_ on the window next to him. His black eyes snapped over there, thinking it might be hail, but instead saw Winter, Rowena's snowy white owl. Pure joy filled him as he quickly opened the window and allowed the owl to fly inside. She landed on his desk and set down a letter addressed to him; it was in Rowena's handwriting.

He quickly tore open the letter and his black eyes read the letter and as he read it, he could almost hear Rowena's sweet voice as she wrote this letter. But when he finally reached the end of her letter, he felt anger welling up inside of him as well as heartbreak. There was no way he would let Rowena marry some prince of Norway. She was the most intelligent, beautiful, and caring woman he'd ever met, and any man would be lucky to have her, but he thought he'd die without her. He grabbed his sheet of parchment, dipped his quill in the black ink, and started writing his response.

_Dear Rowena,_

_I miss you dearly. It feels like it's been forever since we've last seen each other. I can still picture your face perfectly in my mind, I can still hear your sweet voice, I can still smell that wonderful perfume that you wear and that is what gets me through these times._

_I am absolutely heartbroken and angered at the fact of your parents arranging for you to marry the prince of Norway. I think we should run away together. We could go to England. I have a good friend there who will give us shelter. He is also a wizard, and a good one at that. He isn't very wealthy, but he is incredibly loyal and would never dream of revealing our location. Let me know if you agree with this plan, and leave the details to me. Respond as soon as possible while I sit here and devise our escape._

_Love forever,_

_Salazar_

He fed Winter a couple of owl treats and she gave a thank you hoot. Salazar folded his letter, addressed it to Rowena, and handed it to Winter, who grabbed the parchment with his beak. He opened the window again and as Winter's white body flew away through the rain, he whispered, "Safe flight. I love you, Rowena."

Once the owl was completely out of sight, he shut the window, and with a flick of his wand the water on the windowsill disappeared. He grabbed his glass of wine, returned to his armchair, and once again took his position of looking outside at the falling rain, trying to figure out a plan so that he and his love could be together. An hour later, he set down the glass of wine, and he walked once more over to his desk, intent on writing another letter. His eyes were fighting to stay awake, but it was necessary that he write this letter.

_Dear Godric,_

_I am writing to you this rainy night to ask of you a favor. I have received word from Rowena that her parents are arranging for her to marry the prince of Norway. We love each other so much and the thought of her marrying another is devastating for the both of us. The only way that we can be together is if we run away._

_The reason I am writing you is because I was wondering if you would allow Rowena and I to stay with you. That way we can be in a totally different country without our families hunting us down. When we are in England, Rowena and I will be able to start our life together. We would be happy to pay you for your help._

_Please respond soon._

_Sincerely,_

_Salazar Slytherin_

Salazar walked over to the corner of the room where his owl, Arthur, was sleeping soundly in his bronze cage. He lightly stroked Arthur's head and Arthur woke up. Salazar unlocked the cage and brought Arthur out on his arm. The letter was already being held by Arthur's black beak. They moved over to the window, which Salazar opened once again.

"Deliver this to Godric," Salazar instructed softly and Arthur flew off of his arm into the dark rainy night.

Godric Gryffindor was his dearest friend in the world. They had met a few years back when Salazar and his family were visiting England. Salazar had met Godric when they were outside playing in the park. From the moment they had introduced themselves, they were best friends. Salazar trusted Godric with his life and had no doubt that he would allow them to stay with him temporarily. Finally giving into his eyes' protest of staying awake, he retreated to his armchair and dozed off right then and there.

"Salazar, m'boy, time to wake up!"

Salazar inwardly groaned when he heard his father jovially waking him. He cracked open his eyelids and had to shut them once again when he almost went blind from the sunlight shining in through the window.

"Salazar, your mother and I will downstairs in the dining hall. Come on and get dressed, we're having you favorite."

"I'm awake, father, don't worry," Salazar mumbled groggily. He heard the door of the parlor shut and that's when he finally clambered out of his comfortable armchair. His black eyes immediately looked over to the window to see if he'd received a response from either Rowena or Godric, but neither had replied yet. With a flick of his dark wand, the dark green shades closed, blocking out most of the sunlight that kept threatening to blind him. Deep down though, he took it as a good sign; almost as if nature was trying to tell him that everything would work out okay. He certainly hoped it would and kept this in mind as he got dressed and went downstairs, hopefully getting the situation off of his mind as the day progressed.


End file.
